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(03-19-2015, 03:09 PM)Shoshopu Wrote:(03-19-2015, 02:24 PM)Edgar Wrote: The only thing remotely "sexist" I can identify from this thread and the tumblr post about the term Mary Sue is that Mary is a girl's name.Â
I want you all to consider this: If that's enough to warrant the title "sexist", should we be naming girls Dave and the like to avoid it?
"Hey Delial, your name is Steve now. You know, so you can be empowered and all."
Excuse me while I wait to be stabbed.
Let me help you identify what people are talking about, then, since I'm pretty sure you only skimmed the essay in the OP if that's what you got out of it (because that doesn't make sense at all, at least your suggestion afterwards about naming girls after boys. Are you suggesting that girl names are inherently bad? That the author thinks girl names are inherently bad?)
The problem the author of that essay and others have is that to them it seems to them that people are far more critical of female characters, overly so, and are more likely to pin the term Mary Sue to an overpowered female character than they are to an overpowered male one, and that people are also more critical of the author's motives behind creating that female character than they would be of an author's motives behind a male character
When the author went on the tangent about the gendered names, their point was that the only time we seem to use a feminine word by default is when we're talking about bad characters. It has the implication that most bad characters are female if you aren't careful. Does that make sense?
A lot of sense, actually, until I decide to dig into it. So here's my two cents.Â
The idea that Mary Sue insinuates some sort of hatred towards the female gender, or that female characters alone can be terrifyingly bad, is just wrong. Not long after Mary Sue was coined as a term to describe a specific character mold, and not just the name of a dumb protagonist of a poorly written fanfiction, we came up with a male analogue that meant the same. Whether you call it Gary or Marty Sue, or even John Doe, there exists a term whose mere existence completely contradicts the perceived bias towards women in the bad characters department.
These self-indulgent special snowflake characters who always get their way are universally bad whether they are male or female. We're not implying bad characters are usually, or even have to be female. If I concede anything, Mary Sue did come first, but that's just because of timing, and not malicious intent. Mary Sue would still exist if Marty came first. because stupidity is not prejudiced.Â
If I'm finding anything offensive, right now, I'd say it's the Tumblr post. The question it asks seems loaded, designed to generate as much controversy and hatred as possible, and when broken down, it's quite opinionated. What does this remind me of?
Oh right. Troll-posting.
But that's just a hunch. Serious or no, this Tumblr post makes me sigh and shake my head.
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